This invention relates to a children""s play ride. It relates especially to a ride which is adapted to be associated with a children""s swing set, play gym or the like.
A typical children""s swing set or gym set usually includes a variety of different play rides such as swings, slides, rings, glide-rides, see-saws and the like which involve up and down and back and forth movements of the children using the various rides. To our knowledge, the swing and gym sets on the market today do not include any rides which produce a helical spinning motion. It would be desirable, therefore, to be able to offer a swing set with a ride which will accommodate at least one child standing up and automatically helically spin that child about a vertical axis.
Accordingly it is in object to the present invention to provide a children""s play ride which can automatically rotate at least one child about a substantially vertical spin axis.
Another object of the invention is to provide a spinner ride of this type which is gravity operated.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a spinner ride which is especially adapted to be connected to a more or less conventional children""s swing or gym set.
Another object of the invention is to provide a children""s spinner ride which is relatively easy to manufacture and to assemble.
Other objects will, in part, be obvious and will, in part, appear hereinafter.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will. be exemplified in the following detailed description, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.
Briefly, our spinner ride comprises a rigid elongated pole whose upper end is adapted to be connected to the cross bar of a children""s gym set and whose lower end is arranged to contact the ground so that the pole stands erect. The pole is formed with at least one, and preferably a plurality, of depressions or pockets at an elevated location on the pole, the plurality of depressions being distributed around the pole and being offset along the pole. Slideably engaged on the pole is a spinner comprising an elongated tubular housing having handles at the upper end of the housing and a footrest at the lower end thereof. A lengthwise segment of the housing is formed with an internal spiral groove and a relatively large ball bearing is positioned in each pocket of the pole. The bearings, pockets and grooves are specially dimensioned and shaped so that when the housing is lifted up on the pole, the ball bearings are situated entirely within their pockets so that there is clearance between the ball bearings and the inner wall of the housing allowing the housing to be raised up on the pole until the lower end of the grooved segment of the housing is opposite the ball bearings.
On the other hand, when there is no upward force exerted on the housing, the ball bearings under gravity tend to repose at the bottoms of their pockets so that when a downward force is applied to the housing, portions of the ball bearings project into the housing groove whereby the housing is caused to rotate about the pole as the housing moves downward on the pole.
Thus, after a child lifts the spinner on the pole as described above, he/she may step on the footrest while holding onto the handles. The weight of the child combined with the engagement of the ball bearings in the housing groove will cause the spinner and the child to rotate about the pole until spinner reaches the bottom of its downward excursion on the pole.
Our spinner ride is capable of accommodating one or two children. While it is described herein as being associated with a children""s swing set, it could just as well be supported vertically by another type of support structure.
Also as will become apparent hereinafter, the spinner ride is a relatively simple structure which can be made and assembled quite easily. Therefore, it should prove to be a very marketable item of play equipment.